Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.5
Release Notes
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Highlights from the 10.5 Release Notes
Contents
Contents................................................................................................................................ i
Highlights from the 10.5 Release Notes ................................................................................ 1
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0 ......................................................................................... 1
Content - Overdue assignments list added to Course Schedule view| New ................................ 1
Copy Course Components - Include associated files| Update ...................................................... 2
Roles and Permissions - Download content topics | New ............................................................ 6
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1 ......................................................................................... 7
Bulk Tool Configuration - New Configuration tool | New ............................................................. 7
Content – Enhanced security for content file topics | New .......................................................... 9
Copy Course Components - User information in History page | Updated ................................. 10
Discussions - Top Score Details screen now has consistent appearance | Updated ................. 11
Dropbox - Track deleted submissions | New ............................................................................... 14
Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist | New ............................................................. 15
Quizzes - Ability to set multiple IP address ranges to quiz restrictions | Updated .................... 21
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2 ....................................................................................... 23
Changes to Copy Selected Components workflow | Updated .................................................... 23
Data Export - Customizable Report Bundles | Updated .............................................................. 24
External Learning Tool - New API-created link behavior | New.................................................. 26
Groups – Usability and administration enhancements | Updated ............................................. 27
Microservices - Proxy server support for Authentication | New ................................................ 32
My Awards tool featuring Badges and Certificates | New .......................................................... 33
News - Recover deleted News items | Updated .......................................................................... 38
User Progress - Better metrics for time viewing topics | Updated ............................................ 40
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3 ....................................................................................... 42
Awards - Icon and template libraries management | Updated .................................................. 42
Copy Course Components - Improved copy content settings | Updated .................................. 44
QuickLinks - QuickLinks tool no longer inserts http:// by default | Updated ............................ 46
User Progress - Identify when learners access their courses | New .......................................... 47
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
i
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Highlights from the 10.5 Release Notes
User Progress - Identify if learners download content at the topic, module, or
table of contents level | New ....................................................................................................... 48
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4 ....................................................................................... 50
Course Import - Long file paths no longer cause issues on import | Updated .......................... 50
Game-Based Learning service | New ........................................................................................... 51
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5 ....................................................................................... 58
Awards - Improvements to award sorting, sharing, and tool access | New .............................. 58
Course import compatibility - Import IMS CP 1.1.4 packages | Updated .................................. 59
Customization Configuration UI – Improvements to search, filter,
and edit | Updated ........................................................................................................................ 60
Data Export - Usability Improvements | Updated ....................................................................... 60
Data Export - New filter and field added to All Grades Data Export | Updated ........................ 63
DocBuilder – Implement Warm-Up Task for Semester Start | Updated .................................... 64
Language Management - Export and Import small custom language packs | Updated ........... 65
OrgUnitId - {OrgUnitId} Replace String supported for homepage
with external URL | Updated ........................................................................................................ 69
Release conditions - NOT operator support | New ..................................................................... 69
D2L Student Success System 10.5.1 .................................................................................... 71
D2L Student Success System - Copy model configuration from past courses | New ................ 71
D2L Student Success System 10.5.2 .................................................................................... 73
D2L Student Success System – Email dialog updates | Updated ................................................ 73
D2L Student Success System 10.5.4 .................................................................................... 74
D2L Student Success System - Students at Risk widget | New ................................................... 74
Integrations 10.5.0 ............................................................................................................. 77
Brightspace® App Finder - Ability to discover partner apps for Brightspace by D2L | New...... 77
Respondus LockDown Browser® - Special Access Override | Updated ...................................... 79
Turnitin® - LTI-based Integration | Updated ................................................................................ 81
Integrations 10.5.1 ............................................................................................................. 84
Respondus Dashboard Integration Enhancement | Updated..................................................... 84
Respondus LockDown Browser® - Improved quiz workflow | Updated .................................... 85
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
ii
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Highlights from the 10.5 Release Notes
Turnitin® - LTI Integration Enhancements | Updated ................................................................. 87
Integrations 10.5.2 ............................................................................................................. 89
Banner Grades - Date Setting for failing grades | Updated ........................................................ 89
Brightspace Story Builder - Create visual story boards | New .................................................... 90
Google Apps - ReadOnly Google Directory API route| New ....................................................... 92
Microsoft Office 365 - Simplified log in for users | New ............................................................. 93
Integrations 10.5.3 ............................................................................................................. 94
Brightspace® App Finder - Usability Enhancements | New ........................................................ 94
ReadSpeaker docReader - Turn on tool directly | Updated ........................................................ 95
Integrations 10.5.4 ............................................................................................................. 96
Microsoft Office 365 Integration - Proxy server support for API requests | New ..................... 96
Integrations 10.5.5 ............................................................................................................. 97
Dropbox - Turnitin® exemption for individual users | New ........................................................ 97
About D2L ........................................................................................................................ 100
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
iii
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Highlights from the 10.5 Release Notes
Highlights from the 10.5 Release Notes
The following release notes are for clients installing D2L Learning Environment 10.5. If you are upgrading from 10.3.0,
refer to the Continuous Delivery Upgrade Paths document.
10.5 has several new and updated features. In this document, you will find the necessary details to understand the
feature changes, why they were made, and how they impact the D2L Learning Environment.
You can use this document in support of communicating the changes to your organization. We welcome your feedback
and questions about this release in the Brightspace Community.
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0
Content - Overdue assignments list added to Course Schedule view| New
Learners can view an actionable list of overdue assignments in the new Overdue tab in the Course Schedule view of the
Content tool. Course activities that have a due date appear automatically in the Overdue list as soon as the due date
passes. Only activities with an end date later than the due date (or no end date) appear in the list, to ensure that
learners have time to complete the overdue activities. Learners can access the activity directly from the list to
complete it. Once the activity has been completed, it disappears from the list, and when all overdue items are
completed, the Overdue tab disappears from the Course Schedule view.
The Overdue tab only appears in the Course Schedule area when course activities are past the due date
The Overdue tab conveniently lists all overdue course tasks in one place so learners can more easily manage their time
and workload. Overdue activities are sorted by most to least overdue.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
1
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0
Tool Change
Users Only
Impact of Change
Workflow
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to the graphical
No new configuration variables or role n/a
interface with the addition of the
permissions. This tool change is
Overdue tab to the Course Schedule automatically available for users.
view. The tab only appears if there
are overdue activities that can still be
completed before the end of the
content topic or course availability.
Copy Course Components - Include associated files| Update
This update makes it easier and faster for instructors to include associated files when copying components from one
course to another. Previously, instructors had to use the Course Files tool as well as select content in order to copy all
associated files and prevent broken links. Now, when instructors use the Include associated files feature, D2L imports
all files associated with selected course components to the new course. Users can select which content modules to
copy rather than having to copy them all.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
2
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0
By default, this feature is turned on.
When the box is checked, all course files associated with the course component are copied to the new course.
Links and images in copied files remain intact. In addition, for content topics and modules, the feature analyzes HTML,
HTM, and CSS files to retrieve any files referenced within them, such as embedded images, media, JavaScript, and CSS
files. All these files are also copied, maintaining links and styles.
At this time, only direct links to files are processed. A D2L Quicklink is not processed. Instructors must manually select
assignments, discussion topics, and content outside the course to copy any items associated by Quicklinks. A warning
alerts users to what files did not copy.
See the list below for components and files included in the new feature.
Content
Overview description
Module and topic descriptions
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
3
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0
Topic files
Question Library
Sections - messages, comments, feedback
Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
Quizzes
Sections - messages, comments, feedback
Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
Description
Introduction
Page header and footer
Submission view message
News
Content
Dropbox
Instructions
Discussions
Forum and topic descriptions
Surveys
Sections - messages, comments, feedback
Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
Description
Submission message
Page footer
Self Assessments
Sections - messages, comments, feedback
Questions - question text, answer options, feedback, and hints
Page header and footer
This feature implements PIE item D171.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
4
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0
Look and Feel
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Moderate change to look and feel
with the introduction of the Include
associated files option.
The Copy Course Components >
n/a
Select Components workflow is still a
synchronous, web request-based
process. When copying courses that
are very large, users may encounter a
timeout error. To avoid the timeout
error, users may copy associated files
manually, or select the Copy All
workflow.
Moderate tool change as the default
to copy all associated files is turned
on; however, users still have the
option to copy files manually.
Moderate change to workflow as the
process of copying all content files is
easier, faster, and streamlined. Users
do not have to know where to search
for associated files to copy them.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Next Steps
By default, this feature is enabled. If
you encounter issues with the feature
and want to disable it, contact D2L
Support to ask them to disable the
new
D2L.LE.Conversion.Features.ICopyAss
ociatedFilesFeature feature toggle.
5
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.0
Roles and Permissions - Download content topics | New
The new permission, Download Content Topics, gives learners the ability to download specific content topics without
having the ability to also download all the topics in a module or course at once.
Content permissions showing the new Download Content Topics permission.
Global Change
Organization Wide
Role Permissions
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
There is a slight impact with this
change. This adds a new permission to
the Content tool in the Brightspace
Platform. This global change allows
administrators to give learners
permission to download content topics
individually, but not as a whole.
Download Content Topics is
required by learners to download
individual content topics. Learners
cannot compile and download
multiple topics with this permission.
Permission settings for Download
Content Topics will be the same as
Compile and Download Content
initially.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
6
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Bulk Tool Configuration - New Configuration tool | New
Administrators can now access the configuration settings for Bulk Course Create and Bulk Course Export from inside
the D2L Learning Environment. The configuration page resides within the tool, and the settings are stored in a
database. To access the configuration page, users must have Bulk Course Create > Manage Settings and Bulk Course
Export > Manage Settings.
Administrators now have a bulk configuration settings page to apply settings across many courses. The configuration is
no longer stored in a flat config.xml file. It now appears as a configuration page in the tool, and the content is stored in
a database.
Bulk Course Create - configuration page showing Course Settings options
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
7
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Bulk Course Create - configuration page showing WebCT options
Configuration Variable
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight workflow change as users
complete bulk configuration changes
in the configuration settings in the
tool instead of the config.xml file.
When the Bulk Course Create or Bulk
Course Export process is triggered,
configuration data is returned from
the database.
Configure bulk changes in the
interface rather than an external flat
file.
Slight tool change to store
configuration settings in a database
instead of a flat file.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
8
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Content – Enhanced security for content file topics | New
This feature enhances the security of primary content files for content topics. By increasing the level of content
protection, instructors can make sure learners cannot access content files earlier than they want them to. More
specifically, this feature provides protection against premature access to content file topics with restrictions (draft
state, date, or conditional release). For example, instructors can store answer keys in content and release them to
learners after completion of an activity or a specified date.
Configuration Variable
Tool Change
Organization Wide
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
9
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Slight impact to learners because they Affects file topics only and applies to
cannot access content file topics if
only the primary file used for a topic.
there are restrictions.
This feature is turned off by default
Slight impact to administrators
and is configured by the following
because of a new configuration
new configuration variable:
variable.
d2l.Tools.ManageFiles.UseContentRe
strictedSecurity
Slight impact to instructors because
they define content topic restrictions Previously, if a learner did not have
for files.
permission to the primary topic file
for a restricted topic, but they knew
the direct URL link to the file from the
course path, they could still access
the file. For example:
Next Steps
To use this feature, administrators
must turn on the
d2l.Tools.ManageFiles.UseContentRe
strictedSecurity configuration
variable at the Org level. Once the
configuration variable is turned on,
any existing or new restrictions are
applied to the topic file and users
cannot access the file via direct URL
link.
https://myschool.com/content/enfor
ced/6723Astronomy_Course/astronomy_quiz_
answers.pdf
When the configuration variable is
turned on, the primary topic file for a
restricted topic is completely
inaccessible via direct URL link. If a
user knows the direct URL link and
they attempt to access the file, a "not
authorized" error message displays.
Copy Course Components - User information in History page | Updated
You can now see who copied a course through the existing Copy Course Components History page.
This feature implements PIE item D1205.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
10
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
The user name associated with the course copy action.
Tool Change
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight change to the tool.
The new information is listed on the
Copy Course Components History
page.
From Import/Export/Copy
Components page, click View History
to view.
Discussions - Top Score Details screen now has consistent appearance | Updated
All locations of the Topic Score Details screen in the Discussions tool now have a consistent presentation across all
incidences of the screen. Instructors have access to the Topic Score Details from the following locations:

Assess Student link in the context menu of a thread or reply post.

Topic Score link on the Users tab of the Access Topic area.

Student link on the Assessments tab of the Access Topic area.

Submissions button in the Grades tool on the Enter Grades grid.

Submissions button in the Grades tool on the Grade Student page. The Top Score Details screen is available when
you click the student’s name from the Enter Grades area.

Submissions button from the Grade Category page, available when you click Grade All from the context menu of a
category from the Enter Grades or Manage Grades areas.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
11
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1

Submissions button from the Grade Item page, available when you click Grade All from the context menu of a
grade item from the Enter Grades or Manage Grades areas.
Note: There is one incidence of Topic Score Details that was not changed to be consistent with the
other incidences of the page. The instance available when you select a post from a topic, and then
select More Actions > Assess has some behavioral differences from the remaining Topic Score Details
incidences. As a result, no changes were made to that incidence.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
12
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Topic Score Details has consistent appearance
Look and Feel
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
13
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight cosmetic changes. Changes
include updated title bar text and
changes to the number and
placement of floating buttons at the
bottom of the screen.
Inconsistencies have been changed to n/a
present a single consistent
presentation with the same behavior.
Dropbox - Track deleted submissions | New
The File Submissions area of Dropbox has a log that can be filtered to determine if and when a learner submitted a file,
and whether the instructor deleted the submission. If a submission was accidentally deleted, you can restore it from
the submission log.
Track Deleted Submission Log with Returned Values
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
14
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Tool Change
Users Only
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight change to Administrators and
Instructors who can now use the log
to verify submissions and deletions,
instead of manually researching the
submissions.
From the File Submissions area of
Dropbox, users can click Submission
log to view the submission
information. Users can sort by
submitted, deleted, restored, or
started to determine if there are any
submissions that meet the criteria.
Instructors and Administrators can
investigate any conflicts around
Dropbox submissions. The Instructor
or Administrator can use the
Submissions log to see whether a
student submitted an assignment, if
the submission was deleted, and who
deleted it.
Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist | New
The Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist is an optional new landing page and workflow for instructors that
provides a welcome tour and task list for a quick and easy way to set up courses in D2L Learning Environment.
The Personal Dashboard homepage is part of a new Personal Dashboard tool that is turned off by default and must be
enabled by administrators. The Personal Dashboard homepage displays an instructor’s full course list, with the ability
to set current courses as favorites for easier access. Instructors can also view a notification if their courses are not
visible to students yet and access their own profiles from the Dashboard view. If an instructor needs to access their
organization landing page, they can select the Classic Homepage link. They can also choose their default landing page
to be either the Classic Homepage or the Personal Dashboard by clicking the Settings link. This will change which page
they see when they log in to D2L Learning Environment. The Settings Link also allows them to reset the Welcome tour
to view it again.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
15
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
The Personal Dashboard landing page appears when instructors log in
TheCourse Setup Checklist contains a list of suggested course setup tasks with shortcuts to the tools. Tours appear on
those pages to demonstrate how to get started on the task. The Checklist lets instructors keep track of completed
items. The Course Setup Checklist can also be accessed from the top of course-level pages when there are still items to
complete. This tool is ideal for new Brightspace by D2L users, as well as for experienced instructors, as it helps fasttrack the process of setting up a course in D2L Learning Environment. The Personal Dashboard must be enabled first
for the required Course Setup Checklist permissions to appear. Administrators must set the permissions for instructors
to view the Course Setup Checklist.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
16
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
The Course Setup Checklist lists common tasks required to create a course
The Personal Dashboard and Course Setup Checklist is intended for use by instructors with organization-level and
course-level permissions only.
Organization Wide
Role Permissions
Tool Change
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
17
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Large impact to instructors due to
new landing page interface and set up
checklist interface. Existing tools used
to set up a course remain unchanged
(Content, Dropbox, Grades, etc).
There are two new role permissions
that control access to the Personal
Dashboard and Course Setup
Checklist features:
The Personal Dashboard is part of a
new tool called Personal Dashboards,
which must be enabled at the
instance or organization level. This is
off by default. It must be enabled first
in order to access the permissions to
access the Course Setup Checklist.

Personal Dashboard > Can
Access Instructor Dashboard is
an organization-level permission
that must be enabled for
instructors.

Manage Courses > See Setup
Checklist is a course-level
permission that must be enabled
for instructors.
These permissions only appear if the
Personal Dashboards tool is enabled
at the instance or organization level.
Moderate impact to administrators
due to new tool enablement and role
permission requirements for
instructor roles.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Course Setup Checklist is
dependent on existing tool statuses
for full functionality:

Import/Export/Copy Course
Components

Content

Grades

News

Classlist
18
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
The Personal Dashboard and Course
Setup Checklist behavior is impacted
by the following existing role
permissions:

Manage Courses > Change Status
- Controls read-only vs. edit view
of the course active status.

Manage Courses > Change Start
and End Dates - Controls readonly vs. edit view of course start
and end dates.

Manage Courses > Change
Course Image - Required to edit
the course image.
Note: This permission was
previously named Change
Welcome Widget Picture.

User Profile > Manage Own
Profile - Controls read-only vs.
edit view of profile area.

Import / Export / Copy
Components > Import Content
Packages
or

Import / Export / Copy
Components > Copy Course
Offering and Template
Components - Required to see
the tour pointing out Import
Course in the Content tool.

Content > Manage Content
and
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.

Content > Create and Edit
Modules and Topics - Required
to see the tour pointing out Add
a Module in the Content tool.

Grades > Edit Course Settings
19
and

Grades > Manage Items and
Categories
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
The following existing role settings
affect the Personal Dashboard and
Course Setup Checklist:

Role Alias - If an instructor does
not have the See Setup Checklist
permission for a course, they see
their role for that course in the
message area of the course tile.
The course role shown respects
the Role Alias settings.

Access Inactive Courses Required to see ad set favorite
courses that are not yet active

Access Past Courses - Required
to see and set favorite courses
after the course end date

Access Future Courses - Required
to see and set favorite courses
before the course start date
The following existing configuration
variable affects the Personal
Dashboard and Course Setup
Checklist:

d2l.Security.BypassDateCheck
- If enabled, instructors who don't
have the role settings Access past
courses or Access future courses will
see past and future courses in their
All Courses list and be able to add the
courses as favorites. The courses will
not appear as links and they will not
be able to access them until the date
restrictions are resolved.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
20
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
On-premise hosting requires the
following:

Users' browsers must be able to
reach subdirectories of
https://s.brightspace.com

Web servers must be able to
make outbound connections to
subdirectories of
https://s.brightspace.com
Quizzes - Ability to set multiple IP address ranges to quiz restrictions | Updated
Instructors can now specify multiple IP address restrictions as ranges, with the option to add multiple IP address range
restrictions. This new feature enables instructors to limit quiz availability to specific locations, such as computer labs or
classrooms. This restriction ensures that users can only access a quiz from IP addresses in the specified IP address
ranges.
Set a range of IP addresses in the Restrictions tab
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
21
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.1
Users Only
Tool Change
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight workflow change to the tool for
instructors who choose to set Content
IP address restrictions on their
quizzes.
No new permissions or configuration
variables required. Users with
permissions to use Quizzes have full
access to this restriction.
n/a
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
22
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Changes to Copy Selected Components workflow | Updated
In order to mitigate the risk that large courses may result in a timeout for users, the process is moving to an
asynchronous workflow. Moving the selected components workflow into an asynchronous job avoids copy timeouts
when you are copying large courses. You are able to start the copy process and check the progress on the History page,
which enables you to perform other tasks while the copy process is underway.
Figure 1: Copy Course Components, Import/Export/Copy Components page showing the ability to select View History
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
23
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 2: Copy Course Components - View History
Workflow
Tool Change
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Moderate disruption to workflow for
Administrators or Instructors using
the Copy Selected Components
feature.
The OrgUnitWorkerQueue service
now handles this additional type of
job. The Copy Selected Components
process now follows a similar
asynchronous workflow to the Copy
All process using a service instead of
synchronously through web requests.
Monitor the OrgUnitWorkerQueue
queue size. During high-volume copy
periods, ensure that the servers are
balanced, and add more utility
servers as required.
As a result of these changes, larger
courses no longer cause
synchronization timeouts.
You can use the new Copy Course
Components history page to monitor
the processing status or copy another
component package. You can use the
history log to troubleshoot copy
process issues.
Data Export - Customizable Report Bundles | Updated
Clients can now obtain customizable data exports in bundles. Based on their organization’s particular needs, they can
choose between two bundles that contain the most popular types of data exports, getting more data than before.
Corporate Bundle
Teacher Effectiveness/Assessments and Engagement Bundle

Final Grades

Final Grades

All Grades

All Grades

Learner Usage/Progress

Learner Usage/Progress

Instructor Usage

Rubrics

Content Progress
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
24
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
The Data Export tool extracts raw data from your D2L Learning Environment database. The different reports provide
focused clusters of information:
Name of Data Export
Examples of data available
Final Grades

final grades

final adjusted grades

whether grades have been released

instructor comments

assignments

dates

grades awarded

weighting

amount of time learners have spent in their course content

how much content learners have accessed

how many discussions learners have participated in

total number of learner logins

how many instructors are actively using D2L

which tools instructors are using

how often instructors are using various tools

which assignments in a course are using rubrics

how instructors are using rubrics

student scores on rubrics

number of visits a learner has made to content topics

total time a learner has spent in a content topic

most recent date a learner accessed a content topic
All Grade Values
Learner Usage/Progress
Instructor Usage
Rubrics
Content Progress
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
25
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
You can filter result sets from the reports to obtain the most useful information.
Figure 3: Sample Content Progress report, with selected results
Tool Change
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight change for administrators, who n/a
have access to more data than
before.
The new bundles are available for
purchase on request. Contact your
D2L Account Manager for more
information.
No change to interaction with the
service or data.
External Learning Tool - New API-created link behavior | New
When creating or updating external learning tool links using Valence APIs, developers can now set the links to open in
a new window. This creates a consistent user experience, since links created in the External Links tool in D2L Learning
Environment already have this option in the workflow.
Global Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
26
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Minor impact to workflow for
developers of Content APIs due to
new OpenAsExternalResource flag.
In the D2L Learning Environment
Content APIs, the
"OpenAsExternalResource" flag has
been added. This caused a new D2L
Learning Environment API version
contract (1.6 is the new version for
D2L Learning Environment APIs).
Developers require existing D2L
Valence access credentials and
authentications.
Groups – Usability and administration enhancements | Updated
Enhancements have been made to the Groups tool that enable learners to join groups more easily, and give instructors
and administrators the option to set up and manage groups more efficiently. The enhancements are as follows:

When creating or editing a group category, the Enrollment Type called # of Groups of # - Self Enrollment has been
changed to # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment to clarify its usage.

When creating or editing a group category, a Group Prefix field is now present.

When creating or editing a group category that supports self enrollment, a Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option
is now available.

When creating or editing a category, and when Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date is selected, the Allocate
unenrolled users after Self Enrollment Expiry Date option can also be selected.

Once a category and groups with capacities have been created, capacity markers display (in the form x/y where x
is the number of enrolled students and y is the capacity).

Learners can now see the names of the members of each group before they enroll.

Learners can now leave a group after they have self enrolled if they choose to enroll into a different group.

When enrolling learners in groups, there is a configurable Advanced Search Options link that opens a custom
search and enroll page, if instructors want to use additional data to create groups of learners.

New configuration variables have been added that can be turned on to enable enhancements.
This feature implements PIE items D2335, D987, D880, D786, D777, and D649.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
27
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 4: Updated Enrollment Type called # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment and Group Prefix field on the New Category
page
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
28
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 5: Set Self Enrollment Expiry Date option and Allocate unenrolled users after Self Enrollment Expiry Date option
Figure 6: Capacity marker and Leave Group option on updated Groups page
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
29
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 7: Configurable Advanced Search Options link on Enroll Users page
Configuration Variable
Global Change
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Slight impact to administrators due New configuration variables:
to the addition of new

d2l.Tools.Groups.DisplayAdva
configuration variables.
ncedSearch - A boolean value
to indicate if the group’s
advanced search option is
available.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.

d2l.Tools.Groups.LeaveGroup
sEnabled - Enables or disables
the leave group functionality
for self enrollments.

d2l.Tools.Groups.IncludeOrgU
nitIdInGroupCode - Allows the
org unit id to be within the
group code on group creation.
Next Steps
These configuration variables are
set to off by default. To enable
these in your environment, turn
the System Value to on in Config
Variable Browser > Tools >
Groups.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details

Moderate impact to instructors
with the addition of optional
workflow elements in the Groups
tool.
d2l.Tools.Groups.EnrollExpire
dTaskFrequencySeconds - The
task frequency in seconds for
enrolling users in expired
groups.
The Enrollment Type called # of
Groups, Capacity of # - Self
Enrollment allows instructors to
set up a specified number of self
enrollment groups with a set
capacity of members in each
group.
Next Steps
This configuration variable is set to
the recommended frequency of
once per day (86400 seconds) and
cannot be changed by
administrators.
n/a
The Group Prefix field allows
instructors to set a customized
prefix that automatically applies to
both the name and code of each
group generated. Additionally, the
org unit ID can be added to the
group code automatically to
ensure the org unit code is unique,
if this option is configured.
The Set Self Enrollment Expiry
Date option is available for
category types that support self
enrollment. It allows instructors to
set a deadline after which learners
can no longer join the group.
The Allocate unenrolled users
after Self Enrollment Expiry Date
option automatically, randomly,
and evenly enrolls learners into a
group if they have not self enrolled
before the Set Self Enrollment
Expiry Date passes. This automatic
enrollment recurs at a configurable
interval after the expiry date to
ensure that all learners are
assigned to a group.
On the Enroll Users page, if the
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
31
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
option is configured, an Advanced
Search Options link displays that
opens a new browser window
pointing to a specified custom
search and enroll page. Instructors
can filter students according to
certain criteria, such as age or
demographic data, to determine
who to put into each group.
Moderate impact to learners with
the addition of optional workflow
elements in the Groups tool.
In the Groups tool, for groups
n/a
where a capacity has been set,
capacity markers will display in the
Members column so that learners
and instructors can see how many
spaces are left in each group.
On the My Groups page, learners
can see the names of the members
of each group by clicking on the
link in the Members column
(either a capacity marker or a
single number).
On the My Groups page, learners
can click Leave Group to leave a
group that they self enrolled in
until the date specified by the Set
Self Enrollment Expiry Date
option.
Microservices - Proxy server support for Authentication | New
The Authentication Service now supports proxy servers. This allows on-premise clients that use proxy servers to take
advantage of Brightspace products that depend on the Authentication Service such as Brightspace Pulse.
Global Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
System Requirement Change
32
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Moderate impact to infrastructure for For on-premise clients using a proxy
on-premise clients.
server, allow outbound traffic from
D2L Learning Environment to
https://auth.brightspace.com.
Next Steps
n/a
Important: You must specify the host
name (not the IP address) and port
443.
My Awards tool featuring Badges and Certificates | New
The new My Awards tool enables Instructors to automatically award Badges and Certificates based on release
conditions, or to award or revoke them manually.
Before Instructors can use this tool, it must be configured by an Administrator. In the Config Variable Browser, under
Tools > Awards, the d2l.Tools.Awards variables are enabled by default at an organization level. Features of the tool
can be turned off for specific courses.
Badges can be set at a departmental level and available to all instructors in the department, or specific to a single
course or instructor. To add a new badge to a course, the instructor can complete the New Award page and define the
name and description of the award, and set attributes for the award type, sharing, expiry, notification, the location of
the image library to use to create the badges, and Issuer information. The image library contains some default icons
you can use to create badges and default templates for certificates.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
33
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 8: Adding an Award. The image shows the New Award page that the Administrator uses to add new awards to the system.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
34
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
After Badges and Certificates are added to the repository, Instructors can add the awards to a course. To add awards,
Instructors can click the Awards link in the navbar of a course, and click Add Awards to Course. Only the awards that
are available to a specific course appear when the instructor clicks the button. Instructors can add certificates to a
course by adding a PDF template when they create a certificate.
Figure 9: Adding an award to a course
From within a class list, an Instructor can review the badges and certificates that have been awarded to specific
Learners or to the entire class by selecting all the Learners. From this page, the Instructor can grant awards that are not
tied to release condition criteria to Learners, or revoke previously awarded badges or certificates. When an Instructor
revokes a previously awarded badge or certificate, they must provide a reason.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
35
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 10: Classlist awards page, showing the listing of awards given to Learners in the course
Learners can see a list of the awards they have received and the available awards. Administrators can also set
permissions to allow Learners to share their achievements to Mozilla BackPack or the Learner's user profile. This
sharing permission is disabled by default to protect the privacy of Learners. Administrators can configure the sharing
option in the Config Variable Browser and the Roles and Permissions tools.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
36
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 11: The My Awards page lets learners view the badges and certificates that they have achieved, or are available if they meet
the eligibility requirements.
Configuration Variable
Global Change
Organization Wide
Look and Feel
Workflow
Tool Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
37
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Moderate change to Instructors, who
now have a tool to reward learners
for participation and accomplishment
within courses and academic
programs.
There are a significant number of
permissions in the Roles and
Permissions tool that apply to the My
Awards tool. There is a separate,
redundant set of permissions for
Badges and Certificates. In the
Configuration Variable Browser, there
is a new section called Awards.
Awards are turned on at the Org
level. Courses and programs inherit
the setting from the org; however
Instructors or Administrators can
disable the Awards tool for individual
courses or programs.
Some of the information included in
Certificates is gathered from existing
student and organization information
and automatically populated in the
certificate fields. You may need to
adjust the size of the text box or the
size or font of the text to create a
visually pleasing certificate. It is
recommended that you perform
some test publishing before you grant
your first certificate.
Moderate change to Administrators,
who have configuration variables to
turn on or off for an organization or
individual courses or programs.
Slight change to Learners, who can
review badges and certificates they
have been awarded, and review the
pool of available awards they can
earn.
If sharing permissions are granted by
an Administrator, Learners can share
their accomplishments with friends
and peers by sharing the awards to
their user profile or Mozilla BackPack.
News - Recover deleted News items | Updated
Users can now restore deleted news items inside Brightspace by D2L without needing to engage D2L Support. The
addition of this functionality saves time for instructors when news items accidentally get deleted by administrators or
other instructors. It also saves administrators time because they no longer need to engage D2L Support to request that
a news item be restored from the database.
This feature implements PIE items D1870 and D1928.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
38
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Figure 12: The Restore option from the More Actions button on the News page
Figure 13: The Restore News page showing a News item that was accidentally deleted
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
39
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Global Change
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors and
administrators who can now restore
deleted News items inside the News
tool without having to engage D2L
Support.
On the News page, a deleted news
n/a
item can be restored directly from the
More Actions button by selecting
Restore. This takes the user to the
Restore News page where previously
deleted news items can be selected
and then restored by clicking Restore.
User Progress - Better metrics for time viewing topics | Updated
In the Summary and Content Progress pages, User Progress contains statistics on the amount of time a learner spends
in a content topic. The update to this feature corrects the inaccuracies that can occur when a user session times out or
loses connectivity. As a result, the statistics for the amount of time a user spends in a content topic are accurate to the
default frequency of 10 minutes. The time spent statistics for other scenarios (such as viewing a content topic and then
browsing to the next topic or to another tool) continue to capture the exact duration.
This solution also improves how User Progress tracks time spent in a content topic when the user switches between
browser tabs.
The following variables are affected:
d2l.Tools.Content.TimeTracking.HeartBeatInterval enables you to set the heartbeat interval, in minutes. This variable
is set to 10 minutes by default.
d2l.Tools.Content.TimeTracking.UseHeartbeat turns on or off the heartbeat logic of the feature. This variable is set to
off by default.
d2l.Tools.Content.TimeTracking.OrphanedRowAge defines the age of the rows that are considered orphaned and
candidates for cleanup. This variable is set to 24 hours by default.
Configuration Variable
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
40
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to administrator
workflow.
This solution replaces the content
time tracking logic and minimizes
client disruption by using existing
Brightspace by D2L tables. It also
decreases disruption to other tools
that use the Content time tracking
logic, such as Content, User Progress,
D2L Insights, and any other affected
customizations.
This solution introduces an optional
database heartbeat solution. The
heartbeat logic increases the number
of writes to the database in order to
fill the gaps when a session expires or
loses connectivity. The heartbeat
logic is disabled by default, and when
enabled the default frequency is 10
minutes.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
41
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
Awards - Icon and template libraries management | Updated
Administrators can now add to or delete from the award icon library and the certificate templates library. This enables
administrators to manage the default values the organization makes available to their users of the Awards tool.
This feature implements PIE item D2688.
Figure 14: Upload New Icon and Delete Icon options on the Award Icon Library page
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
42
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
Figure 15: Upload New Template and Delete Certificate options on the Certificate Templates page
Organization Wide
Role Permissions
Tool Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
43
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to
administrators who can now
manage which default icons
and templates are available
to Awards tool users in their
organization.
The following permissions are necessary for
administrators to manage defaults in the
libraries:
n/a
Awards – Can Manage Default Icon Library
Awards – Can Manage Default Certificate
Templates
The options to upload and delete award icons
and certificate templates are found in the
Awards tool, on the Award Icon Library page
and the Certificate Templates page,
respectively.
Copy Course Components - Improved copy content settings | Updated
The Content Display Settings copy the settings controlled by org unit configuration, including Content Arrangement
and Navigation display options, and completion status tracking. You can access these settings from the Content >
Settings popup window. Previously, if you selected Content display settings from the Copy Selected Components
workflow, these items were not properly copied. This update ensures that the Content Settings are all copied as
expected when you use the Copy Course Components and Bulk Course Copy options.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
44
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
The middle part of this dialog (Content Authoring) contains settings that are not included in a course copy.
Figure 16: Bulk Course Configuration - Content Display Settings
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
45
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
Tool Change
Users Only
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Minimal Change to clients.
The result of these changes is
that the feature now works
as expected.
In previous versions of D2L Learning
Environment, this screen of the Bulk Course
Configuration feature did not function as
expected. You can select the following options:
For new courses, any
changes to organization level
content settings cascade to
the new course. Courses with
their own settings do not
inherit these settings.
Display your content by content type, or
unsorted in the module view.
Choose to display the navigation buttons and
content browser in the Content viewer.
Indicate whether you want the completion of
course copy jobs to be manually or
automatically selected during job creation, or
whether completion tracking is not required.
When you select any of these settings, the
source course's settings are copied over to the
destination course, and the destination course
no longer inherits the organization level
settings.
QuickLinks - QuickLinks tool no longer inserts http:// by default | Updated
The URL field in the Quicklinks tool no longer has http:// automatically inserted to assist users in forming URLs with
correct syntax. The field is now blank before you enter a URL.
Users Only
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
46
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Very minor impact to users.
Users who add Quicklinks
must now type http:// to
ensure the URL has proper
syntax.
n/a
Ensure that you enter the
correct protocol at the
beginning of your URL links.
User Progress - Identify when learners access their courses | New
In the User Progress tool, instructors can now easily identify when learners access their courses. From the new Course
Access indicator, instructors can view detailed course access information such as when a learner last accessed the
course and the total number of days they accessed the course.
Figure 17: The Course Access indicator in the User Progress tool
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
47
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
Configuration Variable
Look and Feel
System Requirement Change
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
This feature represents a
major change to system
requirements.
To capture and aggregate course access events
for the User Progress, this feature requires the
Brightspace Data Platform and Brightspace
Insights.
If you do not currently have
the Brightspace Data
Platform and Brightspace
Insights, contact your D2L
Account Manager.
If you do not have your events stored in the
Brightspace Data Platform and have not
purchased Brightspace Insights, this feature is
unavailable.
This feature represents a
moderate change to the
workflow and look and feel
of the User Progress tool.
From the User Progress tool, instructors access n/a
the new Course Access indicator for a specific
course.
When Course Access is enabled, the Login
History indicator no longer contains a Last
Accessed Course field.
From the User Progress Settings, a Course
Access check box is available for including
course access data in the User Progress report.
User Progress - Identify if learners download content at the topic, module, or table of
contents level | New
In the User Progress tool, instructors can now identify if learners download content at the topic, module, or table of
contents level. Instructors can view download metrics from the Summary and Content indicators for a specific course.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
48
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.3
When combined with other content access metrics, this provides instructors with a more detailed picture of learner
engagement.
Figure 18: Content Progress showing a download from Table of Contents (all course files), a Module download (Week 2), and
individual Topic downloads
Look and Feel
System Requirement Change
Tool Change
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
49
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
This feature represents a
major change to system
requirements.
To capture and aggregate content download
events for the User Progress, this feature
requires the Brightspace Data Platform and
Brightspace Insights.
If you do not currently have
the Brightspace Data
Platform and Brightspace
Insights, contact your D2L
Account Manager.
If you do not have your events stored in the
Brightspace Data Platform and have not
purchased Brightspace Insights, this feature is
unavailable.
This feature represents a
moderate change to the
workflow and look and feel
of the User Progress tool.
From the User Progress tool, instructors can
view the following information for a specific
course:

The Summary indicator
displays visited content topics and
download states.

The Content indicator
displays showing a download from
Table of Contents (all course files), a
Module download (such as Week 2),
and individual Topic downloads.
n/a
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Course Import - Long file paths no longer cause issues on import | Updated
In some cases, Blackboard type course packages contained a course path that was too long to be correctly managed by
D2L Learning Environment. The base operating system of native Blackboard courseware is Linux, which allows a longer
file path structure, and had previously caused import errors on Blackboard packages.
This solution is functional with both self-hosted and hosted learning environment solutions.
Integration
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Tool Change
50
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
No user impact
Support for long paths has been added so that
Blackboard course packages no longer cause
import errors. There have been improvements
to messaging and logging for the Blackboard
load process.
Users can now import
Blackboard course packages
as standard import code
paths, rather than special
case imports code paths.
This solution is an improvement to many
Blackboard packages with long paths;
however, some packages might still encounter
an error if the course path is too long.
Game-Based Learning service | New
Incorporating game-based mechanics, visual design, and thinking into a course can help organizations improve learner
engagement, retention, and achievement. D2L Professional Services provides a comprehensive array of Game-Based
Learning (GBL) services, including game design, development, and integration for your courses in D2L Learning
Environment.
Figure 19: A Game-Based Learning solution in D2L Learning Environment
The current service offering includes (but is not limited to):

a content publishing component
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
51
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4

a gamification framework for instructors to use when creating courses
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
52
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
The content publishing component is a drag and drop form-based system that allows instructors to create a custom
look-and-feel to their game-based content, as well as create 6 unique activities. No coding is required and you can
apply a GBL module to as many courses in D2L Learning Environment as you want.
Figure 20: Creating a branching scenario activity in The Branching Scenario Wizard
The gamification framework is focused on scores, achievements, and unlocks. Learners attempt various activities on a
single map in an effort to unlock all of the available content. The system currently targets formative assessment and
challenges learners to demonstrate their knowledge, rather than perform a summative assessment. Each published
map has an associated grade item, with a learner goal of achieving 100% on the grade item. Instructors can track
learner progress through the map via the grade item. Instructors can also include rewards as learners progress, and
learners can track progress against their peers, introducing an element of competition.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
53
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Figure 21: Adding activities to the Map Maker tool
In the spirit of gaming, learners can personalize their learning experience by creating their own unique character using
an avatar.
Figure 22: Editing a learner's avatar
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
54
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Organization Wide
Look and Feel
Tool Change
Role Permissions
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
n/a
The GBL service is currently only
To implement a GBL solution for your
available in markets where US English organization, contact your D2L
is the primary language used to store Account Manager.
and display data.
The GBL is available to all three
segments (Higher Education, K-12 and
Corporate) where courses are
delivered by D2L Learning
Environment 10.4 or higher.
Large impact to workflow and user
interface for administrators,
instructors, and learners.
For administrators, a new Admin tool n/a
provides the ability to create, modify,
deactivate, and delete users.
For instructors, a new Admin tool
provides the ability to design a GBL
module for publishing into a course.
The tool includes drag-and-drop
functionality and wizards to create
activity types and maps.
Learners create an avatar and
participate in a GBL course from D2L
Learning Environment. The D2L
Learning Environment home page
displays player profiles,
achievements, and avatars.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
55
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Large impact to role permissions for
administrators and instructors.
In D2L Learning Environment, there is
a new webapp role (under Security in
the Roles and Permissions tool). This
role is created by D2L and is used by
the GBL system to retrieve data from
the course; administrators do not log
in with or use this role. The following
org-only permissions are turned on by
default:
D2L creates the webapp role during
deployment of the GBL service.

See Roles and Permissions

Manage Roles

Manage Role Permissions

Manage Password Policy
A user with the Administrator role is
responsible for creating additional
Administrator and Instructor roles in
the Admin tool.
To allow authentication, D2L must
enable the LTI integration with GBL.
Important: The webapp role and its
default permissions should not be
modified. Doing so may alter the GBL
experience.
Within the Admin tool, there are two
roles:

The Administrator role has full
privileges within the Admin tool,
and is able to create users, and
view all maps/activities created
by all Administrators and
Instructors.

The Instructor role is limited to
viewing their own maps/activities
and cannot create users.
GBL authenticates users using LTI
links to D2L Learning Environment.
Separate authentication credentials
are not required.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
56
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.4
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
n/a
To offer improved security,
To host the GBL solution in an onmonitoring, and scalability, GBL
premise configuration, contact D2L
solutions for D2L hosted clients reside Deployment Services.
in D2L Data Centers. GBL is a multitenancy service.
On-premise clients can choose to host
the GBL solution themselves or have
the Admin tool use WebDAV to
publish assets into their D2L Learning
Environment automatically. An onpremise setup should be similar to
the D2L Data Center setup; however,
it will be single tenancy only.
n/a
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
For the embedded content feature,
which allows publishing Learning
Objects into a game map, D2L
Learning Repository is required.
If D2L Learning Repository is present,
you can embed LOR objects when
creating an Embedded Content
activity in the Admin tool.
57
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Awards - Improvements to award sorting, sharing, and tool access | New
Several additions and improvements have been made to the Awards tool including:

A new link to Awards in Edit Course on the navbar

If enabled by administrators, learners can now send awards to their D2L ePortfolio

A new configuration variable called d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled
This feature implements PIE item D2844.
Figure 23: Awards tool available in Edit Course under Assessment category
Configuration Variable
Look and Feel
Tool Change
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
58
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors
due to workflow changes
when using the Awards tool.
Instructors can now access the Awards tool in Edit n/a
Course under the Assessment category.
Slight impact to
administrators who must
provide permissions and turn
on a configuration variable
for learners to send awards
to D2L ePortfolio.
Administrators must ensure that users have the
See D2L ePortfolio and Create files permissions in
D2L ePortfolio in order to see the Send to D2L
ePortfolio button.
Awards are included with course export and
import packages.
The
d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled
configuration variable lets learners send their
awards to D2L ePortfolio as an award artifact.
After a learner sends an award, the badge in the
Awards tool indicates that the award has been
sent to D2L ePortfolio.
In Admin Tools > Config
ariable Browser, set the
d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfo
lioIntegrationEnabled
config variable to on.
If D2L ePortfolio is turned off but
d2l.Tools.Awards.ePortfolioIntegrationEnabled is
turned on, the sending option does not appear.
Slight impact to learners who If learners send awards to D2L ePortfolio, a record n/a
may be able to send awards of the action is visible on the My Awards page.
to D2L ePortfolio.
Course import compatibility - Import IMS CP 1.1.4 packages | Updated
Users can now import course packages with the IMS Content Packaging (CP) version 1.1.4 specification. This allows
users to reuse a wider variety of existing course packages instead of recreating courses manually.
Global Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Tool Change
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to
Users can import course packages marked as
administrators and
IMS CP 1.1.4 using Course Import and Bulk
instructors who can now
Course Create.
import course packages with
the IMS CP 1.1.4
specification.
n/a
Customization Configuration UI – Improvements to search, filter, and edit | Updated
There are improvements to the Customization Configuration UI. Now, when a user clicks back or an option in the
breadcrumb trail after completing a search or using a filter, this search or filter is remembered. Also, there is now an
option to copy the default value into the Org or Org Unit value for configurations that accept a list of values (for
example, Data Export Report fields or the Visual Course List color palette configurations). This allows users to more
easily complete minor edits.
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to
administrators who use the
Customization Configuration
UI with the addition of
improved functionality.
Users require the permission Manage Custom
Configurations found in the Roles and
Permissions section of Admin Tools in D2L
Learning Environment.
n/a
Data Export - Usability Improvements | Updated
There have been several improvements to the Data Export functionality, including updates to report configurations for
Custom Data Export reports, and updates to system logging information to provide more detailed error information.
Two user interface configurations now provide drop-down lists to better accept specific values.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
60
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
The Frequency configuration determines how often the report is generated. The Org Value field accepts Hourly, Daily,
Weekly, and Monthly values from the drop-down list.
Figure 24: Custom Data Export report settings showing the frequency with which the report is generated
The File Separation Type configuration indicates how you want to separate data on the report into files. The Org Value
field accepts ByOrgUnit or None values from the drop-down list.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Figure 25: The Custom Data Export report can separte data into files by org unit, or not separate the data
There are also changes to the system logs to include the XML file and report that contains each error.
Users Only
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Look and Feel
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to users who
Previously, these configurations were free text n/a
run reports. Users can now
entry; however now the lists are limited to the
select Frequency and File
accepted values for the fields.
Separation Type from a dropdown list instead of a text
field.
Slight impact to users who
Users who have Access System Log
review system logs for errors permissions enabled now see more robust
in Data Export reports
information, including the XML file and report
that contains the error.
n/a
When a user provides an incorrect OrgUnitId
for a Data Export report, the API call no longer
fails. Instead, the error message in the system
log indicates “Orgunitid {name} that was
provided in the XML request file for
{ReportName} does not exist”.
Data Export - New filter and field added to All Grades Data Export | Updated
The All Grades Data Export has a new optional report filter called DaysBack that specifies the number of previous days
to include when harvesting data for a result set. The DaysBack filter helps administrators who create XML request files
for the All Grades Data Export to reduce large amounts of data, by specifying the number of previous days to query.
The DaysBack parameter accepts a positive integer, and when set, only grades that were modified within that number
of days back are exported.
The All Grades Data Export also features a new, boolean data field called Excluded From Final Grade Calculation that
appears in the CSV output file. It contains the value of the Excluded from Final Grade Calculation check box which
indicates whether or not a Grade Item contributes to the Final Grades Calculation. To see this field in their output CSV
file, administrators can add ExcludedFromFinalGrade to the field's configuration on the Standard All Grades Data
Export in Customization Configuration UI.
Global Change
Organization Wide
Tool Change
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
These features represent a
The features are automatically available for all
slight impact to workflow for users of the All Grades Data Export. They are
administrators, due to the
set to OFF by default.
new filter and field in the
Data Export UI.
All Grades Data Export is only
available for purchase upon
request. Contact your D2L
Account Manager for more
information.
Configuration of
customization common data
exports for on-premise
clients must be completed by
your D2L implementation
consultant.
DocBuilder – Implement Warm-Up Task for Semester Start | Updated
Improvements now automate the manual work required to create document views prior to Semester Start. Now, a
new recurring task is in place. Admins can enable and set the values for a new configuration variable to make this an
automated activity. This allows admins to focus on other tasks while ensuring that document views render in a timely
manner.
Configuration Variable
Tool Change
On-Premise
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
64
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to
administrators who must
enable and enter values for a
new configuration variable
for the task to complete
automatically.
The
d2l.Tools.DocumentViewers.Task.WarmUpOr
gUnits configuration variable must be enabled.
This can be found in the
Tools>DocumentViewer section of the Config
Variable Browser in Admin Tools in D2L
Learning Environment.
This feature requires setting
configuration variables that
are only visible to D2L
Support. To set these
configuration variables,
contact D2L Support.
This variable enables documents to be cached
for the children of specified parent OrgUnits
(for example, a Department or Semester).
OrgUnits are specified as a comma separated
list of OrgUnitIDs.
Enable the
d2l.Tools.DocumentViewers.
Task.WarmUpOrgUnits
configuration variable.
Enter a comma separated list
of OrgUnitIDs for which you
want to create document
views.
Language Management - Export and Import small custom language packs | Updated
It is now possible to import small language packs using the Language Management interface. As a result, language pack
can contain only the terms that are different from the default parent language pack. For example, a custom language
pack can now contain only the terms that are different from the default language pack. The language pack zip file
contains only the updates, rather than the full set of both default and custom language terms. There is also a
difference in how custom and default terms are regarded in the system. All imported values in the user interface now
become custom values. Clients can continue to manage their translations and receive updates from the parent D2L
language pack. Imported terms appear in the user interface as the custom value for the language terms affected.
Imported terms replace any previously existing custom values. If there was no previous custom value, the terms are
added as new custom values. The default value column in the user interface contains the parent language default
value. This affects imports going forward; no existing custom languages will be modified.
The small language packs that are facilitated by the improvements to the Language Management feature provides a
convenient way to import only changed terms to your D2L Learning Environment, and also move edited lang terms
between test and production environments.
Language Management tool has improved the ability to search for custom values. When you use the Language
Management tool to search for a term within a language, the search options are All Terms, Terms without custom
values, and a new option, Terms with custom values. This new option lets you search for terms that have translations.
The search functions as before, but the new Terms with custom values option filters the results to only terms that
have custom values.
This feature implements PIE item D815.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
65
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Figure 26: Language Terms - A new CustomValues option lets you filter results to only show terms with custom values
The Export Custom Values button at the top of the page exports all custom values for the selected language.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
66
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
Figure 27: Language Management - Export Custom Values button exports all custom values
The Language Management tool has also been updated to so that the export action can filter the search results grid
and only export items that you have specifically selected.
Figure 28: Language Management - Select specific language terms from the search results to export
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
67
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
The Language Management tool is now aligned to other tools to have the standard Save, Save and Close, and Cancel
buttons on the bottom of Edit pages. Further, when you click Save in the Language Management tool, you stay on the
edit page.
This feature implements PIE item D816.
Configuration Variable
Look and Feel
Integration
Tool Change
On-Premise
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight disruption to users
who are exporting or
importing language packs.
The process has changed to
enable users to export or
import only custom terms.
In order to use Language Management tool,
you must have the Manage Languages
permission.
Small language packs that
contain only the custom
language terms can help
mitigate the disruptive
impact of importing and
exporting language packs.
Language packs contain an XML file for each
language package, regardless of whether or
not any translations are contained therein.
Inside the definition for each XML package,
you must define each collection, regardless of
whether the collection contains any custom
terms.
It is possible for the zip file for new language
packs can contain only updated (custom) terms
within each XML file.
In the Language
Management tool, select the
specific terms you want to
export, or click Export
Custom Values.
Custom terms in the import packages no
longer become new default values; rather they
retain custom value designation. As a result,
you can differentiate between custom
overrides and values that were part of the
original language pack.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
68
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
OrgUnitId - {OrgUnitId} Replace String supported for homepage with external URL | Updated
In Brightspace, you can create a homepage based on a widget or tool, and you are now able to create a homepage that
resolves to an External URL. If you configure a homepage URL as follows:
https://www.bing.com/search?q={OrgUnitId}, the replace string is populated with the users current OrgUnitId when
the homepage is accessed. An implementation example of this feature is using the URL as a custom navbar link.
Configuration Variable
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to
Enable the feature in Tools Management using n/a
Administrators or Instructors D2L.PlatformTools.Homepage.Domain.IHome
who can now use the
pageExternalUrlReplaceStringsFeature
{OrgUnitId} replace string to
resolve to the users' current
orgunitid.
Release conditions - NOT operator support | New
New release condition types that support the NOT operator have been added to D2L Learning Environment to support
or identify users who have not completed course items. The following 10 release conditions are available:
•Incomplete checklist - Has not completed checklist: <name>
•Incomplete checklist item - Has not completed checklist item: <name>
•Competency not achieved - Has not achieved competency: <name>
•Learning objective not achieved - Has not achieved learning objective: <name>
•Content topic not visited - Has not visited content topic: <name>
•No discussion posts authored in topic - {No threads added to discussion topic: <forum>/<topic>, No threads or
replies added to discussion topic: <forum>/<thread>}
•No submission to dropbox - Has not submitted to dropbox folder: <name>
•No grade score - Not graded on grade item: <name>
•No completed quiz attempt - Has not completed an attempt on the quiz <name>
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
69
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Learning Environment 10.5.5
•No completed survey attempt - Has not completed an attempt on the survey <name>
The new release conditions can be used anywhere release conditions are supported in D2L Learning Environment,
including Intelligent Agents. The new options provide additional choices for course setup and user tracking.
This feature implements PIE item D126 and D2184.
Organization Wide
Global Change
Tool Change
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
This feature represents a
moderate impact to
workflow for all users.
Existing permissions that enable the use of
release conditions remain for the new release
condition types. Users require the same
permissions to enable and access release
conditions across the platform.
n/a
Additional options are
available to administrators,
instructors, and course
designers when setting up
courses that use release
conditions, although the
workflow in each tool
remains the same.
Learners may experience
slight workflow changes.
The new release conditions are ON by default.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
70
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Student Success System 10.5.1
D2L Student Success System 10.5.1
D2L Student Success System - Copy model configuration from past courses | New
When you set up a new course as part of D2L Student Success System, you can now copy the model configuration from
an existing course to save time versus having to create the model configuration again.
The new Copy Model Config button on the Configure Predictive Model page
Tool Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
71
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Student Success System 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Large change to workflow.
Copying the model configuration
includes the grade ranges, date
ranges, domain selections, and the
historical courses.
n/a
Affects process of copying courses at
the start of a new semester.
The feature is available using the
Copy Model Configuration button on
the Configure Predictive Model page.
You can then select the course you
want to copy from.
The original course setup method is
also still available.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
n/a
n/a
72
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Student Success System 10.5.2
D2L Student Success System 10.5.2
D2L Student Success System – Email dialog updates | Updated
The Compose New Message email dialog for D2L Student Success System has been updated to make sending emails
simpler and more intuitive.
Figure 29: Updated Compose New Message email dialog
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
73
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Student Success System 10.5.4
Look and Feel
Impact of Change
Tool Change
Technical Details
Slight impact to instructors and
Updates include:
administrators who email learners

Relocated Address Book button
using the D2L Student Success System

Send button moved to top of
email dialog.
dialog window

Next Steps
n/a
Drag and drop functionality plus
other new options for attaching
files
D2L Student Success System 10.5.4
D2L Student Success System - Students at Risk widget | New
This release of the D2L Student Success System introduces the following features:

a new Students at Risk widget

improvements to the student dashboard
To enhance monitoring of learner success, instructors can add a new Students at Risk widget to a course homepage in
D2L Learning Environment. Once a week, D2L Student Success System updates the widget to display up to 5 students
that the system determines are "at risk." The sub-title of the widget changes to reflect the predicted grades for the
week.
By default, learner names display as Anonymous in the widget. This allows instructors to protect learner names in
settings shared with other learners, for example, in a classroom or during a web cast. To view learner information, the
instructor points to the widget or moves the input focus (for accessibility) to the anonymous name. Additionally,
clicking the Show names link toggles the photos and names of all learners listed in the widget.
Clicking a learner's name loads the dashboard page for that learner, displaying more detailed information about that
learner's predicted outcome.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Student Success System 10.5.4
Clicking View all predicted grades loads the standard D2L Student Success System page, displaying all learners in the
course and the success index.
Figure 30: Students at Risk widget
To provide more information about a learner's success, more quantitative and qualitative details have been added to
each student dashboard:

An easy to understand text-based display of the success index.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
75
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
D2L Student Success System 10.5.4

Indications (qualitative statements about the elements that are negatively affecting a student's predicted success).
Up to four indications can be listed: social learning, content views, course access, and assessments (one for each
domain of the predictive model).
Figure 31: New details in the Student dashboard
Look and Feel
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
The new Students at Risk
widget represents a large
impact to the look and feel
and workflow of the D2L
Student Success System.
The Students at Risk widget is added to the
course home page like any other widget. By
default, the widget does not appear in course
home pages.
Instructors must add the
Students at Risk widget to
their course home page.
The content in the widget is updated once a
week (Sunday night).
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
76
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
The information added to
the student dashboard
represents a large impact to
the look and feel and
workflow of the D2L Student
Success System.
After D2L Student Success System is configured n/a
and running, each student dashboard
automatically updates to display the new
information.
Integrations 10.5.0
Brightspace® App Finder - Ability to discover partner apps for Brightspace by D2L | New
Brightspace App Finder is a new, integrated app catalog that enables Brightspace by D2L users to easily discover
partner solutions. Users can find apps by keyword search, or by browsing app categories or viewing all apps by
segment (for example, K-12, Higher Ed, or Enterprise). Brightspace App Finder replaces Solution Showcase, which has
been removed from D2L Learning Environment.
Users can also browse to Brightspace App Finder (https://appfinder.brightspace.com/) without launching D2L Learning
Environment.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
77
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0
Brightspace App Finder home page
Integration
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
78
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Severe change. New graphical
interface for users, and new steps for
administrators providing links to the
new tool from D2L Learning
Environment.
Brightspace App Finder is integrated
with D2L Learning Environment as a
Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI)
external learning tool. To enable LTI
functionality at the organization
(administrative) level, administrators
must define LTI permissions, map IMS
roles and org units to their
organization's roles and org units, and
set default org level tool consumer
information. Administrators need
appropriate External Learning Tools
permissions to complete these tasks.
To allow users to launch Brightspace
App Finder from D2L Learning
Environment, administrators must
complete the steps to enable LTI
functionality, create an external
learning tool link to Brightspace App
Finder, create a Quicklink to embed
the external learning tool link in a
custom widget, and add the widget to
the organization's org unit homepage.
Respondus LockDown Browser® - Special Access Override | Updated
This update significantly improves the instructor’s experience when granting users special access to a quiz secured by
Respondus LockDown Browser. Instructors can now exempt individual users from requiring Respondus LockDown
Browser when taking a quiz instead of having to exempt all users in order to accommodate one user’s needs.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0
This feature implements PIE item D740.
New option to exempt users on Add Special Access to Quiz page
User with special access shown on Edit Quiz page
Integration
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Tool Change
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0
Users Only
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors granting
special access to exempt users from
requiring Respondus LockDown
Browser when taking a quiz.
In order to see this option, Respondus n/a
must be enabled for the course
offering the quiz resides in.
Instructors can provide this type of
special access to users in the same
way they can provide other types of
special access for quizzes. The
settings can be found on the Edit Quiz
page, in the Restrictions tab for a
given quiz. Instructors must still
provide special access to users for
each quiz, that is, the special access
settings are not automatically applied
to all quizzes.
Turnitin® - LTI-based Integration | Updated
A new LTI-based integration for Turnitin is available to replace the legacy API. Settings for enabling and setting up
Turnitin, including OriginalityCheck and GradeMark, are now available in a separate tab when instructors create or edit
a dropbox folder. The new LTI integration allows instructors and learners to more easily access Turnitin from the
Brightspace platform. Note the following:

New configuration variables have been added to support the LTI integration.

The OriginalityCheck options that were found in the Properties tab in the legacy API have been renamed and
moved to the new Turnitin tab in the LTI integration.

The advanced OriginalityCheck options that were found at the bottom of the Properties tab in the legacy API can
now be found by clicking the More Options in Turnitin button on the new Turnitin tab. The button opens the
Turnitin Assignment window where instructors can set more advanced Turnitin-specific options.

Instructors can no longer enable Turnitin from the Groups tool, which was possible in the legacy API.

If learners in the same group submit similar or identical versions of the same assignment to a group submission
folder, Turnitin will consider those assignments to be plagiarized.

A learner is not able to access another group member’s Originality Report in Turnitin, even though the Originality
Score displays.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0

On the Folder Submissions page, in the Files tab, it is no longer possible to search and sort on the Turnitin
Similarity® column, as it was in the legacy API.

Dropbox data purge has been updated with the new LTI integration.
New Turnitin tab in the Dropbox tool in D2L Learning Environment
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
82
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.0
Configuration for IMS role mapping for new LTI-based integration
Global Change
Role Permissions
Integration
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Large impact to administrators who
need to update to the new LTI
integration, configure it, and map
users to their IMS roles in order for
them to use the new integration.
Administrators need to update the
To update to the new Turnitin LTIoverall Turnitin integration to LTI, but based integration, contact your
the new integration only applies to
Turnitin representative.
new dropbox folders that have
Turnitin enabled. Existing dropbox
folders continue using the legacy API.
New configuration variables:

d2l.3rdParty.LTI.AccountId

d2l.3rdParty.LTI.SharedKey

d2l.3rdParty.LTI.URL

d2l.3rdParty.SubmissionCallback
Timeout
In the Admin Tools widget, under IMS
Configuration, administrators need to
map specific roles for users.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Large impact to workflow for
instructors for LTI integration. New
tab in Dropbox tool for working with
Turnitin integration. Settings are no
longer part of the Properties tab.
Instructors can find the new Turnitin n/a
tab on the New Folder and Edit
Folder pages within the Dropbox tool.
Instructors can only enable Turnitin in
the Dropbox tool, and not through
other tools like Content, Course
Builder, or Groups.
Existing dropbox folders with Turnitin
enabled continue using the legacy
API. All copied, imported or exported
dropbox folders don't have the
former Turnitin options applied so
instructors need to re-enable Turnitin
and reset the options. When Turnitin
is re-enabled, the LTI integration is
automatically applied. All new
dropbox folders use the LTI
integration.
To ensure that that group
submissions can still be checked using
Turnitin, instructors can configure
Turnitin to not check against
submissions from other learners, but
only to check against external
sources.
Integrations 10.5.1
Respondus Dashboard Integration Enhancement | Updated
Administrators no longer need to create the Respondus LockDown Browser® widget, and Instructors can access all the
browser settings from a single location in the Quiz Management interface.
In past, Administrators were required to create the Respondus Lockdown Browser widget or edit browser
configuration settings to enable or disable the requirement to use the LockDown Browser for taking an exam or
viewing results. Now, there is one location in the Respondus dashboard, which removes the ambiguity over where to
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.1
enable or disable the requirement. Instructors with Edit Quiz Properties or View Quiz Setup permissions can access
Respondus Dashboard from Manage Quizzes if Respondus LockDown Browser is enabled for a course.
Configuration Variable
Organization Wide
Integration
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight change to workflow as the
browser settings are available in a
single location.
A new configuration variable must be For more information about how to
set to access the browser settings in
set up and activate this dashboard
the Quiz Management interface.
enhancement, contact Respondus.
Adds a new configuration variable.
d2l.3rdParty.Respondus.DashboardL
TILinkID identifies the ID of the
Respondus Lockdown Browser
Dashboard LTI link that launches from
Manage Quizzes.
The LinkID is found in the URI when
managing the LTI link.
Respondus LockDown Browser® - Improved quiz workflow | Updated
This optional update significantly streamlines the user’s experience in taking a quiz secured by Respondus LockDown
Browser. When an assessment is configured to require Respondus LockDown Browser, the browser will launch in a
new window. If the Respondus LockDown Browser is not already installed, the user is prompted to install it before
starting their quiz.
Configuration Variable
Workflow
Integration
Tool Change
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.1
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to administrators
because of the addition of a new
configuration variable.
New configuration variable:
A new version of Respondus
LockDown Browser is required to take
advantage of this improved
experience.
Slight workflow impact to learners
who will experience fewer steps to
access a quiz in Respondus LockDown
Browser.
When a user attempts to begin a quiz The integration continues to behave
that requires Respondus LockDown
as it did before until administrators
Browser, the system attempts to
are ready to enable the feature.
launch the user directly into the new
window. If that attempt is
unsuccessful, the user is given the
opportunity to download and install
the solution. After the installation is
complete, they can re-attempt to
launch the quiz.
Slight impact for administrators who
must ensure the Respondus
Dashboard is installed for auto-launch
to work (if they have not already
done so in the past).
The current workflow for Respondus
LockDown Browser does not require
this dashboard, however it is an
optional component used by some
organizations. The introduction of
auto-launch makes it required.
Administrators may need to work
with Respondus Support to get the
instructions for configuring the
Respondus Dashboard.
Moderate impact for instructors who
will now have access to Respondus
Dashboard (if they have not already
done so in the past).
The current workflow for Respondus
LockDown Browser does not require
this dashboard; however, it is an
optional component used by some
organizations. The introduction of
auto-launch makes it required.
Instructions may need to be prepared
for instructors leveraging the new
Respondus Dashboard Features.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
d2l.3rdParty.Respondus.SecretKeyIn
dex stores the secret key index
required to encrypt messages that are
sent to the Respondus LockDown
Administrators must contact
Browser.
Respondus to get the new version
and the appropriate value to set the
configuration variable. The
integration continues to behave as it
did before until administrators are
ready to enable the feature.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.1
Turnitin® - LTI Integration Enhancements | Updated
For clients who have updated to the Turnitin LTI-based integration, D2L has added the following enhancements to
improve the Turnitin experience for users:

When you copy courses with Turnitin-enabled dropbox folders, Turnitin settings now also copy.

Better default settings for group and individual dropbox folders.

You no longer need to adjust end dates to allow learners to submit late assignments.

It is easier for you to allow learners to view Originality Reports when they click on their Originality Score due to
syncing between options in the Turnitin tab in the Dropbox tool and options in Turnitin itself.
Default settings for options in Turnitin
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.1
Option in Turnitin tab that syncs with option in Turnitin
Integration
Tool Change
Users Only
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Slight impact to instructors who
should be aware of the new default
settings and behaviors for the
Turnitin LTI integration.
Technical Details
Next Steps
Turnitin settings that are copied with
n/a
courses are accessible on the Turnitin
website, but not from inside the
Brightspace platform.
In Turnitin, the Allow late
submissions? option defaults to Yes
for group and individual dropbox
folders. In addition, the Student
paper repository option is disabled by
default for group dropboxes only.
You no longer need to change end
dates to allow learners to submit late
assignments since the Allow late
submissions? option defaults to Yes
for all dropbox folders.
In the Turnitin tab for individual
dropbox folders, selecting Allow
learners to see Turnitin similarity
scores in their dropbox folder
automatically enables the setting in
Turnitin called Allow students to
view Originality Reports, so that
when learners click on their
Originality Score in the dropbox folder
they can view their Originality Report.
Integrations 10.5.2
Banner Grades - Date Setting for failing grades | Updated
Users who need to meet a federal requirement to record the last date of attendance for students with a failing final
grade can enter a Last Date of Attendance value when exporting grades to the Student Information System (SIS). This
feature is now enabled by a D2L site administrator. Previously, clients had to contact a D2L Account Manager to have
D2L Support enable this feature.
Configuration Variable
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Integration
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Moderate impact to configuration
variables. D2L site administrators now
set the configuration variables related
to enabling and configuring this
feature.
The following configuration variables
are now controlled by D2L site
administrators:
If this feature is not enabled, your
D2L site administrator sets the
related configuration variables. For
more information, refer to the Banner
Grade Administrator Guide.

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportHandler
Page

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LA
ExportHandlerPage

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LA
MidtermRequired

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LA
TriggerGrades

d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LA
TriggerPercentage
Note: Only
d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportHandlerPage
and
d2l.Tools.Grades.ExportToSIS.LAExpo
rtHandlerPage are required to enable
this feature. The remaining
configuration variables are optional.
Brightspace Story Builder - Create visual story boards | New
Brightspace Story Builder is an effective new tool instructors and content creators can use to spark learner
engagement. Using characters and dialog, instructors can create illustrated stories and scenarios to communicate key
learning concepts. They can import the stories directly into a course as content.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
90
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.2
Brightspace Story Builder is easy to use. It uses drag and drop functionality, and requires no coding. Instructors can
introduce the tool into a course at any time, creating an alternative method of instruction. Brightspace Story Builder
can quickly improve the experience of learners in online courses.
Figure 32: An example of a scenario in Brightspace Story Builder
Integration
Look and Feel
Tool Change
Workflow
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
This is a new, optional tool. There is a
large impact to user interface,
workflow, and instructional design as
instructors must learn to use the new
tool and modify their delivery of
content.
Instructors create scenarios in
Brightspace Story Builder. Scenarios
are stored as content within a course
in D2L Learning Environment, as well
as in the file manager.
For more information about how to
acquire Brightspace Story Builder,
contact your D2L Account Manager.
Brightspace Story Builder is currently
only available in English.
Available in 10.3+.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
91
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.2
Google Apps - ReadOnly Google Directory API route| New
Administrators can now choose a ReadOnly Google Directory API route
(https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.user.readonly) for the Service Account to use while accessing
Google Domain Data. This API route provides more restricted access to the Service Account than the existing API route.
Using the ReadOnly API route disables the Create New User, Suspend Accounts, and Restore Accounts functionality
currently available on the Google Apps Administration page in D2L Learning Environment.
In addition to allowing the new API route, a new Google API Option appears on the Google Apps Administration
Settings page to enable read-only access to Google Directory API. Once the setting is enabled, the Google Apps
Administration Manage Users page removes the Create New User, Suspend Accounts, and Restore Accounts options.
Figure 33: The new Google API Options checkbox appears on the Google Apps Administration Settings page
Figure 34: The Google Apps Administration Manage Users page when Read-only access is enabled
Integration
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.2
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Minor impact to administrators due
to slight workflow change when
setting up the Google Directory API
route.
Administrators can give their service
account the ReadOnly API route via
the Google Domain Admin Console:
Once the ReadOnly API route is set up
in the Google Domain Admin Console,
you must enable the Read-only access
to Google Directory API checkbox on
1. Browse to
the Google Apps Administration
https://admin.google.com and log in
Settings page to limit the options on
with your Google Admin account.
the Manage Users page in D2L
2. From the Admin console, click
Learning Environment:
Security.
1. From the Admin Tools menu,
3. Click Advanced Options.
under Organization Related, click
Google Apps Administration.
4. Click Manage API Client Access.
5. In Client Name, enter your Service
Account URL and
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/
admin.directory.user.readonly along
with any other routes you want to use
into Scopes.
2. Click Settings.
3. In the Google API Options area,
select the Read-only access to Google
Directory API check box.
4. Click Save.
6. Click Authorize.
Microsoft Office 365 - Simplified log in for users | New
Administrators can now allow learners to connect to the Microsoft Office 365 integration without having to enter their
email address an additional time. A new, optional configuration variable allows users to bypass the login screen the
first time they launch the widget.
Configuration Variable
Integration
Organization Wide
Workflow
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.3
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact for administrators
who can set an optional new
configuration variable.
New configuration variable:
Administrators can add the new
configuration variable.
D2l.Tools.Office365.ClientDomain
bypasses the login screen during initial
sign in. Clients use their client domain
from their IdP for the configuration
variable.
This feature only works for customers
that have a single domain in use; it will
not work for clients using a Microsoft
multitenant solution. Also the feature
only works when all learners’ email
addresses are on the same domain (e.g.
@yourcollege.com).
Slight change to workflow as users
will not have to enter their email
address.
n/a
n/a
Integrations 10.5.3
Brightspace® App Finder - Usability Enhancements | New
Enhancements have been made to Brightspace App Finder to improve usability. General enhancements are as follows:

The homepage now features case studies showcasing how apps meet the needs of organizations like yours.

A “New” sash now appears on all apps that are new to the Brightspace App Finder catalog for two weeks after
they are added.

On each application’s page, three new fields have been added called Accessibility compliance, Language
availability, and Privacy compliance.
The following features apply to Brightspace App Finder if it has been integrated into an organization’s instance of D2L
Learning Environment:
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.3

Administrators can now set the default view to the My Apps page, if the appropriate LTI parameters are
configured.

Administrators can now add customized notes to an application's page that only administrators and
instructors from your organization can view.

Application providers can now upload persona-based help documents to Brightspace App Finder that users of
that persona, for example, administrators or instructors, can view.
Integration
Look and Feel
Tool Change
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to users due to
minor changes to the user
interface and added
functionality to the
integrated Brightspace App
Finder.
To set the default view to the My Apps page,
n/a
while you are creating an external learning tool
link to Brightspace App Finder, create a custom
parameter that is named default-view and set
the value to my-apps=1.
ReadSpeaker docReader - Turn on tool directly | Updated
In the past, administrators had to engage D2L Support to see the ReadSpeaker docReader integration in Organization
Tools so that they could turn it on and configure it for their organization. Now, ReadSpeaker docReader is visible in
Organization Tools to all clients with a ReadSpeaker account so administrators can turn it on and configure it more
directly, without first having to engage D2L Support.
Integration
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Workflow
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Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.4
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to
administrators who can now
turn on the ReadSpeaker
docReader integration
themselves.
ReadSpeaker docReader is included in Admin
Tools > Organization Tools, and is set to off by
default. The associated configuration variables
are found in the Config Variable Browser tool.
To turn on ReadSpeaker
docReader, click the
corresponding toggle in
Organization Tools. Set the
docReader configuration
variables in the Config
Variable Browser tool using
account information from
ReadSpeaker.
Integrations 10.5.4
Microsoft Office 365 Integration - Proxy server support for API requests | New
The Microsoft Office 365 Integration now supports proxy servers. This allows clients that use proxy servers to take
advantage of the Office 365 Integration.
Configuration Variable
Integration
Impact of Change
Technical Details
The new proxy server
support represents a slight
change to the setup of the
Microsoft Office 365
Integration.
To configure a proxy server, set the
If you want API requests to
d2l.System.Infrastructure.ProxyAddress
use a proxy server, set the
configuration variable to the URL to your proxy configuration variable.
server. For example, http://myproxy:8080/ or
https://myproxy:8080/
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
Next Steps
96
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.5
Integrations 10.5.5
Dropbox - Turnitin® exemption for individual users | New
This update significantly improves the instructor’s experience when managing Turnitin preferences for dropbox
folders. Instructors can now exempt individual users from having their assignment checked by Turnitin when it is
submitted to a dropbox folder. Previously, instructors had to exempt all users from Turnitin in order to accommodate
one user’s needs.
Figure 35: Manage Preference for Turnitin® option
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
97
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.5
Figure 36: Manage Preference for Turnitin® page
Configuration Variable
Global Change
Integration
Tool Change
Workflow
On-Premise
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
98
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
Integrations 10.5.5
Impact of Change
Technical Details
Next Steps
Slight impact to instructors
who can now exempt
individual users from having
their assignments checked by
Turnitin.
To use this feature, Turnitin must be enabled
for the Dropbox tool by the administrator.
When instructors exempt users from Turnitin,
it applies to all dropbox folders in a given
course. That is, if a user is exempted from
Turnitin, none of their submitted assignments
for that course are checked by Turnitin.
On the Dropbox Folders
page, from the More Actions
context menu, select
Manage Preference for
Turnitin®. The Manage
Preference for Turnitin®
page displays where
instructors can select
individual users to be exempt
from Turnitin using the
toggles.
Slight impact to learners
because of the various
indicators in the Dropbox
tool if they are exempt from
Turnitin.
On the Dropbox Folders page, the
Turnitin n/a
OriginalityCheck enabled icon does not display
beside a folder link if a learner is exempt. On
the Submission History page, in the Turnitin®
Similarity column, Exempted displays instead
of a score.
Slight impact to
administrators due to the
addition of a new
configuration variable.
New configuration variable:
Slight impact to on-premise
clients because they must
allow access to the
Brightspace content delivery
network (CDN) to use this
feature.
n/a
d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.AllowExemption –
Determines whether or not instructors can
exempt specific learners from Turnitin at an
org unit level (e.g. course offering). If this
option is on, Manage Preference for Turnitin®
will appear on the Dropbox Folders page
under More Actions.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
In Admin Tools > Config
Varaiable Browser, set
d2l.3rdParty.Turnitin.AllowE
xemption to on.
n/a
99
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
About D2L
About D2L
A global leader in EdTech, D2L is the creator of Brightspace, the world’s first integrated learning platform.
The company partners with thought-leading organizations to improve learning through data-driven technology that
helps deliver a personalized experience to every learner, regardless of geography or ability. D2L’s open and extensible
platform is used by more than 1,100 clients and almost 15 million individual learners in higher education, K–12,
healthcare, government, and the enterprise sector—including Fortune 1000 companies.
The company has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore.
www.brightspace.com (http://www.brightspace.com) | www.D2L.com (http://www.d2l.com)
Contact Us
Phone:
1.519.772.0325 (Worldwide)
Toll Free:
1.888.772.0325 (North America)
0.808.234.4235 (United Kingdom and Europe)
0.800.452.069 (New Zealand)
1.800.656.210 (Australia)
0.800.891.4507 (Brazil)
Fax:
1.519.772.0324
Email:
info@brightspace.com
Twitter:
@Brightspace
Web:
www.brightspace.com
(http://www.brightspace.com) | www.D2L.com
(http://www.d2l.com)
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
100
Brightspace Platform 10.5.0 to 10.5.1 Release Notes
About D2L
© 2015 D2L Corporation.
The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L
Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.
Brightspace, D2L, and other marks ("D2L marks") are trademarks of D2L Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Please visit d2l.com/trademarks for a list of other D2L marks.
Respondus and Respondus LockDown Browser are registered trademarks of Respondus, Inc.
GradeMark, OriginalityCheck, and Turnitin are registered trademarks of iParadigms, LLC in the United States and/or other countries.
All other trademarks are property of their respective trademark holders.
© 2015 by D2L Corporation. All rights reserved.
101